God's Will
by Kiryume
Summary: What Nasch fights for is a happy future. (Implied Bekuansch and Sharkbait, spoilers for e141 and Nasch's revelation in it).


When Nasch opens his eyes he isn't greeted by anyone or anything, only blackness that surrounds him. It is all so empty; the cold is welcoming. He knows only that he's the first of many to come, and that his feelings have given birth to a new world he is entitled to change as he pleases.

Thus he begins.

He snaps his fingers (they're so different from before his sleep, purple and hard and colder than everything else) and sparks fly; they multiply and glow and surround him, building new rocks that are similar to Nasch in structure. They form different shapes and Nasch soon recognizes them as home – a palace with its tall towers and corridors, stone gardens, multiple houses in a far distance and even forests and lakes all in the same fashion. There isn't anything missing of what any other world would have.

No, that's a lie, there is one thing missing, and that is _company._

Nasch is alone. It won't last long, Don Thousand promised him, but that doesn't make the loneliness less worrying. _Your powers for their lives, _was his promise, and Nasch had accepted because he cared more about having his loved one close than the things he'd discovered he was able to do. He'll lead them. He'll protect them this time together with the world he is building for them.

_They won't know fear ever again._

* * *

Gilag and Alit are the first to arrive. Nasch has never heard of them and doesn't know them, and he demands answers from Don. Why are these people he doesn't need here, and not the ones he asked for? He's given promises one more time. _This requires time, Nasch, be patient._ Nasch is, and doesn't show himself yet. The newborn Barians, taking after his image and powers, do not seem to have any remembrance of their past lives and there Nasch agrees with Don Thousand. The fewer people that know, the better.

He can't be a true leader of a new world any other way, not if memories of a previous one remain.

Mizael is next. He's arrogant and quick in temper, unlike the other two, which prevents Nasch from presenting himself yet again. Nasch can't answer the questions he knows Mizael will have.

Nasch remembers the moments spent in his palace's garden as a child, hidden from Merag and the rest of the world, discovering that his touch could kill the flowers and revive them right after, creating new creatures out of his imagination and disappearing them right after in fear of being discovered.

Durbe once asked him where Mach was from, and Nasch lied about finding it lost inside the woods; there was no way he could have explained that the steed was born out of his admiration for the knight. It hadn't been more complicated than _a creature that resembles Durbe both in heart and loyalty._

Nasch has always known he is powerful, but those powers seemed to come with a price. He wasn't allowed happiness. No, better said, those who he really wanted to be happy never achieved it and instead sacrificed themselves for him. He, a human with such powers, was overwhelmed by the circumstances and lost all he held dear.

That's why he waits for them to arrive, the three last that remain. He keeps Don Thousand locked till then, keeps his powers for himself. He will not share them with the other god until his wish is fulfilled. Because there are things even he can't do and as much as he hates to rely on someone as sinister as Don, he's willing to undergo the sacrifice.

Vector comes next, and Nasch feels his heart stir. He is still as he was the night he invaded, rather than his former self: evil, vile, treacherous, not to be trusted. Nothing like the young prince Nasch _may_ have had a crush on. But that is foolish, and he isn't that Nasch anymore. Now he has to rule, has to control his wishes to go to Vector and slap sense into him and bring him back. So he keeps waiting in the shadows of the throne room.

Merag and Durbe are born into his world almost at the same time, their stars aligning the moment it occurs. Nasch is overcome by joy and wants to run to their sides, to hug them and tell them he's missed them and that it's extremely good to be together again. And then he realizes – they don't know who he is anymore, and even if they'll have faint recollections of their bonds (perhaps Merag will feel they're siblings and Durbe will be loyal to him) it won't be the same.

Nasch briefly regrets his decision then, but there is no turning back now. His pact with Don must be fulfilled.

Nasch makes his way to present himself to the six now very confused six Barian Lords as their leader. He can feel Don Thousand take his powers, and his legs weaken as he walks; he still doesn't lose his composure.

He's given part of his soul for this. And he is going to guard this world and its inhabitants at all cost. _For the sake of my world, no, for the sake of the Barian world._

* * *

Nasch can't believe his ears when he finds out that there is another world coexisting with his that seeks to destroy it. Destroy what he's worked so hard to bring together, destroy his corner of happiness between his family and new friends. It's revolting, infuriating, and it pushes him to seek Don's help after centuries of ignoring him.

_It's the Astral world and it consumes everything_, he's told, and Nasch is once again set on the path of war. If it means a better future, he will. He informs everyone else of the situation and the fact that they need a plan, and he's happy to see that they're all equally eager to save their home (except Vector, but he's never open to anything). Durbe's there to support him and Merag to reassure him, and even Mizael seems to have a warrior's spirit; there's new hope in Nasch's eyes, hope that doesn't die even when Vector kills him, and kills Merag.

_Because the righteous will always find a way my son, never forget that._

With his father's last words in his mind, Nasch is reborn as Kamishiro Ryouga.

* * *

Living again as a human has proven Nasch how wrong he is about things. It's inevitable; he _does_ keep losing loved ones. He has seen Merag and Durbe suffer, has been orphaned, and now he must stand against Yuuma rather than with him.

He is a Barian one more time, and now that Don has been defeated he's corrected one of his biggest mistakes. Trusting that bastard had been the wrong move. Now he has a bigger trial, and that is overcoming Yuuma, who he never expected to get so attached to. Yuuma, who despite being a human and not a Barian, not something worth fighting for in his book, was still there. With the people he loves.

He's stubborn at first, and doesn't tell Yuuma anything that's going on. That doesn't last long since Yuuma's ability to break through him shows once more and Nasch spills it all out. His fears, his insecurities, his entire life spread wide for Yuuma to pick whatever he wants from them, under the warming eyes of the over hundred numbers he's controlling. For a brief moment even Vector stops scowling to call him an idiot as he, Durbe, and Merag are destroyed by Yuuma's card effect.

Nasch expects some sort of pity from Yuuma with the same love and kindness he shows everyone. Instead Yuuma says the most unexpected of words, and probably not getting them out of his head for the rest of the duel is what causes his loss and everything he's created to crumble. _You're the bravest person I know, Shark._

And when his life points hit zero, Nasch allows himself to cry because he doesn't think he's brave at all.

* * *

There's a little bit of Nasch's existence left in the merging between worlds. He sees Yuuma cry his human name, desperately hold onto the Code and look for answers. _There's no answer Yuuma. Whatever you do, don't—_

Yuuma does it anyway. He stands up and brushes the dust off himself, ignores the bleeding gash in his arm from Nasch's last attempt to get his hands on the Code. He is going to do it, he is going to re-write the world or build a new one wishing for everyone to be happy.

_Foolish Yuuma._ Nasch laughs and the echo of it doesn't fail to escape Yuuma, who glances at the sky one last time before opening the pages in his hands and reciting the words in them. Astral doesn't try to stop him and Nasch has one last thought before disappearing, wishing he could stay around to watch if Yuuma would fall into the same trap he did.

_Don't you know that there shall never be any happiness for those who play god?_


End file.
